Nobleton Community Church

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date March 22, 2026
Text Romans 4:13-25
Pastor Paul Lehmann

.There were many times when I was a child that my dad would make certain promises to me, and he always tried to keep them. Sometimes something beyond his control would make it impossible for him to keep his promise to me. I just couldn’t understand, and I would be shattered. Fortunately, he would always make it up to me, and I would forget about the broken promise. As I became older, I understood more about the promises. It depended on my behavior for one, but also, circumstances would make it impossible for him to do exactly what he had promised. His favorite answer to me was, “We’ll see! Now, any kid knows that that is not a good response. I remember my senior year in high school, I had a date for our Jr-Sr. banquet. I went to a small town public school in a country that had a lot of Mennonites and other conservative Christians. Therefore, we didn’t have a “prom” like most schools. Those who wanted to dance rented a dance hall and band, etc., somewhere in another city. The Christians went to a Christian campground where we played board games or watched a Christian film until midnight or later. Anyway, this was an important date for me, with the sister of my best friend from church, I needed the car, and my dad was in business for himself, and had an egg and produce route in nearby Akron, Ohio, and he told me he would be home by 6:00 pm. When it was 6:30, and he wasn’t home yet, I began to panic, because I had to pick up my date 15 min. away, and drive back to the school, all before 7:30 pm. He finally came about 10 min before 7:00, apologizing profusely. I was able to get to the banquet just a couple of minutes before 7:30 pm. Everyone was already seated, but they got to see me and my beautiful date walk in. It wasn’t until I was 22 years old and I ran a bread route, the year before Jeannene and I got married, that I realized how hard it was to finish your route when you thought you could. There was always something that kept you from getting home when you thought you could. I came to realize that Daddy didn’t ever deliberately lie to me, but sometimes his promises could not be kept.

Promises on the human level are sometimes broken. The Bible is a book filled with the promises of God to His people. Someone has calculated that there are at least 30 thousand promises in the Word of God. While this figure may appear to be extravagant, it must be recognized that there are thousands of promises made to us which we have failed to recognize and to claim. The most wonderful thing about God’s promises is that they are never broken, but they, too, are conditional; however, once we have done our part, the promise is ours, never to be broken.

Chapter 4 of the book of Romans tells us that the secret of Abraham’s spiritual achievement is to be found in his recognizing and clinging to the promises of God. In other words—his FAITH. He did not stagger back because of the mystery or miracle of the divine plan for his life. He was fully convinced that God was both able and willing to accomplish all that he had promised. May God grant us the insight to discover His promises and the faith to claim them.

Charles Spurgeon, the famous preacher of the last century, wrote a book which is still in print, entitled “Faith’s Checkbook.” This book is a series of daily devotionals for us to use throughout the year. Each devotional is based on one of the exceeding great and precious promises of God. Concerning the promises of God, Spurgeon has said, “A promise from God may very instructively be compared to a check payable to order. It is given to the believer with the view of bestowing upon him some good thing. It is not meant that he should read it ever comfortably, and then have done with it. No, he is to treat the promise as a reality, as a man treats a check.”

So you see, a check is no good until it is cashed. How many of the promises of God have you discovered and claimed—cashed so to speak”?

We want to look at three categories of promises to understand all that God has for us in His Word.

1. FIRST WE HAVE PROMISES FOR THE PRESENT.

Many of the promises that God made in times past are for those who live in the present. In verses 23-24, Paul says that when God declared Abraham righteous (because of his faith), it wasn’t just for his benefit, but for us too, “if we believe in our heart that God brought Jesus Christ our Lord, back from the dead. He was handed over to die for our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God.” If we just recognize God’s promises and claim them by faith, God will do what He says He will do.

There are very few promises God made to his people in the past that have no relevant application for the present. God doesn’t change with the passing of time. What he was yesterday, He is today, and will be tomorrow and forever. What he did for his people yesterday, he will do for us today. When we study the Word of God we should place ourselves in the middle of the action and identify with Biblical characters when such is appropriate. When God promises to forgive and cleanse from sin in the past, we can be safe in assuming that we can claim his promise of doing that in the present upon the condition that we sincerely repent. As God promised to guide in the past, so he promises to guide us in the present. If we are not sensitive to listen and willing to respond, and meet his conditions, either by something we must do or else simply applying faith, then and only then, does He not fulfill his promise.

An illustration of this kind of faith would be if I asked one of you how much cash you have, and you would say $5.00. Then If I gave you as a gift of $5.00 and someone asked you how much you have, you could say, “I have $10.00. But then I ask for $5.00 back, and you are asked how much you have, you would probably say $5.00. What you should say, If you believed me, —-that I said I was giving you a gift of $5.00, is: I have $10.00, but $5.00 is in his pocket (pointing at me). [ That’s like the old offering joke that pastor Wayne used to say, about the $30,000 we need to build a basketball court here in Nobleton. He said we have the $30,000, but it is still in your pockets.}

In verses 19-23, we see that Abraham’s faith never wavered. God had promised him a son, and the world would be blessed by him and his descendants. Even though he was about 100 and Sarah was 90, he believed what God said. His faith got even stronger when he was asked to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.. He was ready to obey God, knowing that the promise would still be fulfilled, even if God would raise Isaac from the dead. When God makes a statement in His Word, no matter how hopeless circumstances seem to us, we must believe Him and claim his promises. Maybe God hasn’t fulfilled a promise to you yet, but God will not fail if we put our faith and trust in Him and His Word.

Then we not only have promises for the present,

2. WE HAVE PROMISES FOR THE FUTURE.

The only thing certain about the future, as far as we are concerned, is the fact of change. Nothing will be exactly the same tomorrow. You know how it is when you go back to your hometown after a number of years. (My hometown of Dalton and New York City from the 60s to the 90s ). Change is all around us, and the future will be filled with change in every era of our lives. The period from 1910 to 1960 was perhaps the greatest change in the world in any other 50-year period of history. ( Then, the almost 50 years it took to change Roe vs. Wade and save babies’ lives in the future). My home state of Ohio didn’t waste any time in declaring that, after the 6th week, when a baby’s heart is detected, abortions are illegal. Other states have also made rulings already. The changes that have taken place in this century are maybe not as visible as the first part of the 20th century. Like cars replacing horses, which were the main means of transportation for thousands of years. But those of you who have smartphones, it has been said that the technology that put a man on the moon was not as advanced as you have in your smartphone today. In a world that moves so fast and we have unlimited destructive power, it is easy to understand why many should be fearful as they face the future. We live in such a complex society in which the consumer and the producer are frequently so far removed that it is difficult for many to have a sense of significance and belonging. On all sides, there is a constant increase in anxiety and insecurity.

As children of God, we can be assured that in a changing world worship a God who does not change. (Mal. 3:16 we read, “I am the Lord, and I do not change….”) The promise to us of eternal life is real, even though the fulfillment of this promise is almost incomprehensible to us, but we have assurance of the reality of this because His Word says so, I John 5:11-12 says that “these things are written so that we might know that we have eternal life.” and because the Holy Spirit bears witness to our spirit that we are His. (and Romans 8:16). God saves us, fills us, and calls us to serve him, in ways that we can’t imagine. There are those in my home church who thought,- “What good thing could come out of Nazareth—uh Dalton–or Orrville,”-surprised that I was a missionary. Wherever you are from, or whatever the circumstances were when you were growing up, we know that in God’s divine providence, He doesn’t make mistakes. Sometimes we need to recognize the category of :

3. PROMISES FOR GOD’S CHILDREN

God has revealed his desire to impart to us a blessing and to enrich our lives. The divine promises were not given to deceive or to encourage false expectations. The heart of the loving Heavenly Father moves toward his children constantly with purposes of grace. His every intention toward us is good. A study of the Bible and of Christian history will reveal that those who have endured trials and difficulties of life and who persisted and went forward to real achievement were those who had studied the word of God and discovered God’s promises. These promises were claimed, and men and women moved forward depending upon God to do as he had promised.

It is reported that the margin of the Bible used by D.L. Moody contained the letters T and P on almost every page. When he was asked about this, he said that the passage contained a promise from God to his children. The T indicated that he had tried the promise, and the P indicated that he had proven the promise to be true in his own experience.

How many times would those letters appear in your Bible?

The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 10:23-25, “Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope that we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially since the day of his coming back again is getting closer. “

There was a woman in the south of France, years ago, who was very poor. She hardly had enough food to feed her children, and their clothes were in rags. She was so discouraged, but at that time she cried out to the Lord for help. She prayed Lord, what promise do you have for me. Something to encourage me. There was a little promise box of cards that sat on the top of the icebox. As she reached for it, blinded by her tears, she knocked it over. The promises showered down around her, on her lap, on the floor; not one was left in the box. She knew a moment of supreme joy in the Lord as the Holy Spirit flooded her soul with divine power and light. She realized that all of the promises were indeed for her in the very hour of her greatest need.

So it can be for you today. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. (Matt. 4:4).

There are 12 promises of God that I want to leave with you.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Once you experience the love of Jesus poured into your heart, you will know that :

Nothing can separate you from his love. and forgiveness

WE HAVE THE PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE

He promises us: provision, protection, strength, empowerment, and guidance

He will never leave us or forsake us.

Paul tells us in I Cor 15:58 to be strong and courageous (steadfast) and faithful, let nothing move you from doing the work of the Lord, because you know that

Your labor is not in vain.

We must accept that the promises of God are personal to us and we must claim them by faith. We must put our confidence in the faithfulness of God.

He gives us peace

He is the God of all comfort

We must put the endorsement of our faith upon the divine promise and present it at the throne of grace just as we would present a check to the cashier of a bank.

The promises of God are conditional, but once we have fulfilled the condition of placing our faith in Him, we will see that He is not a liar; we can count on him.

Scroll down past Sermon for more info

Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date March 8, 2026
Text Matthew 23:1-39
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

The evidence of holiness is not in how you dress or how you look; the evidence of holiness is in how you treat others. This principle is repeated throughout the gospel of Matthew: every time you interact with another person, you have the opportunity to practice holiness.

A holy person reads the Bible, a holy person prays, a holy person goes to church —We all know that these things actually almost go without saying, but there’s much, much more to it than that. What we learn from the life and teachings of Jesus is that a holy person, first and foremost, loves.

A person’s holiness is best seen in the way he or she treats other people.

That’s why Jesus was so sharp in his rebuke of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a religious group of people who kept all the religious laws to unbelievable extremes — but they did not have love.

WE MUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO HAVE A PHARISAIC SPIRIT OR ATTITUDE

In Matthew 23 Jesus spoke the harshest words of his entire ministry, and they were directed at the Pharisees. Listen to what William Barclay said (slightly edited)…

“If a man or woman is characteristically irritable and given to uncontrolled outbursts, his anger is neither effective nor impressive. Nobody pays attention to the anger of a bad-tempered man. But when a person who is characteristically gentle and loving suddenly erupts into blazing wrath, even the most thoughtless person is shocked into taking thought.” [The Gospel of Matthew Volume 2, William Barclay, page 281]

We need to let the words of Jesus in Matthew 23 shock us into taking thought…into taking stock of our lives and our actions and our attitudes so that we can avoid making the same disastrous mistakes that the Pharisees made. Jesus didn’t speak his harshest words to prostitutes or prisoners or demon-possessed people; he spoke his harshest words to the religious people of his day because they had made a mockery of the spiritual life. They had squeezed out all of the joy that comes from a relationship with God and had reduced religion to a long list of impossible rules and regulations. What they had created in the name of religion was light-years away from the life of love that God had originally intended for his people to exemplify.

THE RELIGION OF THE PHARISEES WAS:

STRICT, STERN, AND JOYLESS.

The sad thing is that today, more than 2000 years later, there are some who take the liberating message of the gospel and try their best to squeeze the life out of it, as well. If Jesus were here with us today as he was then, I’m sure his message would be the same: Woe to you, hypocrites.

I’m sure we would all agree that we don’t want that message to be directed at us. We don’t want to fall into the same trap that the Pharisees fell into. We don’t want to be religious hypocrites. So how do we avoid it?

SIGNS OF PHARISAIC ATTITUDES

Today, we’ll look at three things we can do to help us move away from HYPOCRISY toward a life of HOLINESS. If you want to have holiness without hypocrisy, the first thing you need to do is…

1. Let go of your ego.

If the primary function that your “religion” performs in your life is to reinforce the notion that you’re better than other people, then you are missing the point. That’s not what a relationship with God is about. However, it’s what the Pharisees had made their religion into. The apostle Paul said: “…Consider others, better than yourselves.” The Pharisees’ version of Judaism was nothing short of showmanship, and their main objective was, seemingly, to impress other people. Listen to what Jesus said about them…

Verse 5 “Everything they do is done for men to see. They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on the garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.'”

Phylacteries and tassels were religious ornaments. Jesus is not condemning them specifically; he’s condemning the way the Pharisees used them to further their holier-than-thou image. Jesus didn’t condemn them for being devout; he condemned them for using the “devoutness” in a condescending, contemptuous way.

There’s a principle that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:17-26) that we need to remember:

Contempt is a sin. Condescension is a sin. Thinking you’re better than someone else is a sin. Posturing as if you’re better than someone else is a sin. Elitism is a sin. Class snobbery is a sin. Exalting yourself is a sin. (For those of you who say I don’t preach against sin enough, here are more than half-a-dozen to chew on.)

Today, no one wears phylacteries and tassels, but let’s talk about a couple of ways we let our ego get in the way of our holiness.

Dropping Names. Have you ever met anyone who does this…anyone who tries to impress you by casually mentioning the important people they’re “good friends” with? It’s a subtle way of exalting yourself, a subtle way of saying, “I’m somebody.”

Another way we let our ego get in the way of our holiness is…

An Attachment to Titles. Jesus refers to the Pharisees who love to be called “Rabbi.” We have the same tendency. Some ministers insist on being called “Dr.” or “Reverend.” Sometimes, this is just a subtle way of saying, “I’m a step higher on the ladder than you are.” When interviewing job applicants, some will ask, “What will my responsibilities be?” and others will ask, “What will my title be?” Guess which group tends to be better employees?

We have to be wary of pretentiousness. We have to be wary of those little habits and attitudes we sometimes adopt that are designed to exalt ourselves and/or put down others. Don’t try to impress people. Don’t let your ego get in the way of your holiness; it opens the door to hypocrisy in your life.

Striving for holiness without hypocrisy also means that we…

2. Focus on what really matters.

Last week, we read in Matthew 22 where Jesus said that our top priorities are to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, and to love others as we love ourselves. He said these are the most important commandments in the law. In today’s text, he said to the Pharisees…

23 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices — mint, dill, and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Jesus is saying that while tithing is good, there are more important aspects of the law that we should tend to — specifically: justice, mercy and faithfulness.

The Old Testament teaches that the concept of tithing. This includes income as well as produce from your crops.

A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. (Leviticus 27:30)

The Pharisees were meticulous about tithing. Jesus mentions that they tithe “mint, dill and cummin.” These weren’t income producing crops, they were the kinds of plants a family would grow in their kitchen garden, so the crops would be quite small. Yet, the Pharisees insisted that even this small amount — even if it was just one plant — must be tithed to the Lord.

That’s not the bad part. The bad part is that they were meticulous about tithing, but completely careless about the more important matters of the law. Jesus said…

24 You strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel.

He’s referring to the Pharisees’ custom of pouring wine through a strainer to prevent accidentally swallowing a gnat. Their motive for doing this was different than ours would be. We would want to strain out gnats because we think that swallowing insects is repulsive. Their motive wasn’t sanitation as much as it was religious. Gnats are “unclean” according to the Old Testament dietary laws, and they didn’t want to accidentally eat anything that is Biblically unclean. Camels are also unclean animals, and the point Jesus is making is that while you go to great lengths to be faithful in little areas, you’re completely missing the mark in the big areas.

Jesus said we should focus on justice, mercy and faithfulness. Usually when we talk about justice, we’re talking about bad people getting what they’ve got coming to them.

The New Testament use of the word is more about the idea that innocent people shouldn’t be mistreated, and helpless people shouldn’t be taken advantage of. The New Testament concept of justice can be seen in the book of James.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…(James 1:27)

Tithing is good — it’s part of living a holy life — but justice, mercy and faithfulness are more important. Tithing is fairly easy; it’s simply a matter of mathematics. 10% is 10%, but Paul encourages us not to give begrudgingly.

But also, Justice, mercy, and faithfulness, however, are heart issues. They’re driven by love for others. You can’t go through the motions in these matters; you can’t fake compassion.

This is the crucial distinction: justice, mercy and faithfulness are actions motivated by love for others — much more so than tithing. Jesus is saying to the Pharisees: if you really want to be holy, then start loving other people. He’s saying the same thing to us today: Do you want to be holy? Then focus on what’s really important. Love people. Treat them with justice, mercy and faithfulness.

Thirdly, if you want to be holy and not hypocritical, you need to…

3. Start with your heart.

25 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside, they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First, clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will be clean.

Jesus is referring to the ceremonial cleansing of dishes before using them. He’s not condemning the custom; he’s saying that it is pointless to perform religious rituals when your heart is far from God. It’s pointless to perform religious rituals when your life is filled with greed and self-indulgence.

Greed and self-indulgence. What do these have in common? Me. Me. Me. I want more things so that I can have more pleasure. I want more money so that I can spend it on myself. I want more so that I can have more.

Who is absent from this picture? Other people. If you are consumed with greed and self-indulgence, you are not focusing on others, are you? Greed and self-indulgence are the antithesis of justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Greed and self-indulgence are all about “me”; justice, mercy, and faithfulness are all about “you”.

The difference between being self-focused or being others-focused is determined by who rules the kingdom of your heart. Who is the center of your universe?

If you want to be holy, you have to begin with your heart. You have to be cleansed from the inside out. That’s something you can’t do for yourself; it takes a miracle from God. The good news is that God performs miracles — especially this one. In Ezekiel, God says…

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. “(Ezekiel 36:26)

That’s what we need. That’s where holiness begins, and hypocrisy ends — with a new heart. We need to approach life with the understanding that the outer shell of life — the external appearances — is a secondary issue to God. The primary issue, as far as God is concerned, is what we are underneath the shell. What is the state of your heart? If we’re not willing to be given a new heart — a heart that is turned toward God — the rest of our religious activity is a waste of time.

Do you want to be holy and not hypocritical? Begin with your heart. Cry out to God — plead with him, beg him — to change you from the inside out.

What we’ve seen in today’s passage is what we see throughout the gospel of Matthew: Being spiritual, or being holy, is a matter of having a heart for God and a heart for others. The evidence of holiness is discovered in how you treat others.

Scroll down past Sermon for more info

Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date March 1, 2026
Text Matthew 16:13-27
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

The location of the discovery is Caesarea Philippi, where there were many pagan gods and statues, as well as some Jews, but very few. Syrian gods had their worship here. There was a great temple of white marble built to the godhead of Caesar. It had been built by Herod the Great. The place is called Panium, where there is the top of a mountain which is raised to an immense height, and at its side, beneath, or at its bottom, a dark cave opens itself; within which there is a horrible precipice that descends abruptly to a vast depth. The name was changed to Caesarea (Caesar’s town), and Herod’s son Philip added the name Philippi (of Philip). Anyone looking at this pile of glistening marble was reminded of the might and of the divinity of Rome.

It was here in the midst of pagan gods that Jesus asked the question, “Who do people say that I am? The disciples indicated to Jesus that some thought he was Elijah, and others identified him with Jeremiah. When they did this, they were, according to their understanding, paying him a great compliment and setting him in a high place, for Jeremiah and Elijah were none other than the expected forerunners of the Anointed One of God -The Messiah in Hebrews, and The Christ in Greek. When they arrived, the Kingdom would be very near indeed. Then the all-important question: “Who do you say I am? Then Peter made his great discovery and his great confession. Let’s look at three things about this vast passage that is packed full of all kinds of meaning.

First, we see:

PETER’S DECLARATION OR CONFESSION OF FAITH

He says, “ You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (He recognized Jesus as the Messiah).

Jesus knew that his work was safe because there was at least someone who understood. Peter’s declaration was definite, and yet he recognized the mystic element of Jesus being the Messiah, the promised anointed One of God. He recognized far more than others. He recognized something supernatural about this Teacher. He declared that he was more than John the forerunner, more than Elijah the foreteller, more than Jeremiah the watcher and the one who waited; Jesus was the one that they had been looking for.

With great relief and joy, Jesus pronounced a benediction on Peter. In fact, Peter is the only one to whom he said those words: “Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah,” (verse 17). The blessing was not just because Peter gave the right answer, but because the Heavenly Father was able to use Peter as an agent for revealing the truth.

The blessing wasn’t because of his confession, but Jesus was rather describing the condition into which Peter had come by, the gain of this new knowledge, which he declared. Declaring that he was the Son of the Living God was the result of Divine illumination. It was out of the consciousness out of which the confession was born. How did the Father reveal that to Peter? Peter saw it in Jesus- that was what Jesus came to do- reveal to people the Father; however, others didn’t see it.

We do, however, misunderstand how the Holy Spirit worked in the Old Testament, and even here during the days that Jesus walked this earth before Calvary, before the resurrection, the ascension, and Pentecost.

( when it was finally possible for everyone to be filled with the Spirit), If we don’t understand that the anointing of the Holy Spirit was upon only certain individuals to accomplish what God had prepared for them to do.

Now, for Peter, at this point, it wasn’t something that he had to do yet, but something that he had to believe and understand. This great discovery, revealed to Peter by the Father, through the Holy Spirit, also led to a great declaration by Jesus in verses 18 and 19.

This great declaration was actually A GREAT PROMISE.

There are three main points to the promise Jesus gave to Peter.

1. First, that Peter is a “rock” Petros, ( and upon this “rock” Petra. Jesus would build his church.) Petros was a piece of rock, a fragment of the rock nature, but Petra was the essential rock substance. So he was saying that, “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.

He is saying, ” You are of the rock nature, and you shall be built upon the rock foundation.” Remember, he was speaking to people who spoke Hebrew. If we trace the figurative use of this word through scripture, we find that it is never used symbolically of a person, but always of God. So here it shows that the church is not to be built upon Peter.

Jesus used a symbol of Deity and said;

“Upon God Himself I will build my church. My Kingdom shall consist of those who are built into God, partakers of the Divine nature.” Peter had discovered the foundation and had touched God, and by doing that, he had become PETROS. Some say it is on Peter’s faith that the church will be built. In a sense that is true, but more clearly it is the fact that later when Jesus breached the Holy Spirit into them, and said “receive the Holy Spirit” (—-incidentally I submit to you that it was at that time —before Pentecost— that the disciples were “born again,” because then it was after the crucifixion and the resurrection.” –after Pentecost they received the power.

So now Jesus will build his church (ecclesia) on Peter. He represents the first member of the church. Jesus’ earthly parents were the first to believe in him for who he was, but now Peter is the first to represent what God will do inside a person, and when there are more who believe, they form a church. This word, ecclesia, which is translated church was also used for the Synagogue, because it represented God’s people who were different. But Synagogue also meant the assembling of God’s people in worship. But Jesus didn’t say he would build his Synagogue, he said ecclesia—(church), which marked the Hebrews as his selected people. A Theocracy—a group of God-governed people, not governed by policy or by human kings. This is the kind of church that Jesus was talking about. Peter may not have understood everything about this when Jesus told him, but later on we read in the epistle he wrote; I Peter 2:4-8, that Jesus Christ is the living stone, the chief cornerstone or foundation that the church is built upon, and all of us as believers, are his chosen people also living stones that are being built into a spiritual house.

The second promise is when Jesus told Peter that:

2. “The gates of Hades shall not prevail against the church.”

This isn’t the strength of the church against attack. It might seem to mean that Hades will not be able to overcome the church, but an attacking force doesn’t come carrying its gates into battle to fight. It is not a figure of the defensive strength of the church. But it doesn’t mean that the church will be able to capture Hades. The Church has no desire to possess Hades.

We mustn’t miss the meaning being it is a figure of escape. It is a declaration of the fact that the Church will be able to make a way of escape from a beleaguered city, which is in harmony with t he perpetual outlook upon death in the life of the Christian. It is like we are able to tear down the gates of Hades because Jesus Christ destroyed death when he died on the cross and rose from the grave. We have this power over the gates of hell because of Jesus Christ His Church is the attacking force against Hades. The Church doesn’t try to possess Hell, but try to keep as many people as possible away from it. We have the power to do this, because, Jesus told his disciples that when the Holy Spirit comes upon them they will receive power to witness. Then the Holy Spirit draws those people to receive Jesus Christ into their lives and hearts.

If we sometimes feel defeated to fulfill the task of the Church of being an attacking force, it is because we have allowed Satan to disrupt our unity and to allow him to cause dissention in our body of believers. When we don’t fight against sin, Satan and our fleshly desires, we diminish the attacking power of the Church.

3. Then the third promise has to do with:

Keys and Peter’s place in the kingdom and the Church.

What are the keys and in what sense does Peter have authority over sin, and this whole idea of loosing and binding?

To the Jews, these words “the keys” were perfectly familiar to them. They were the insignia of the scribe, the teacher of the law. This was the sign, not of a priestly office, but the office of the scribe. The keys committed to Peter, were not the keys of the Church but the Keys of the Kingdom When Jesus spoke to Peter, he spoke to him as a scribe. In chapter 13, we have the parables of the kingdom, and at the end in verse 52, we have the words, “…every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

Anyone who understands God’s real purpose in the law as revealed in the Old Testament has a real treasure. The Old Testament points the way to Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus always upheld its authority and relevance. But there is a double benefit to those who understand Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of heaven. This was a new treasure that Jesus was revealing. Both the old and new teachings gave practical guidelines for faith and for living in the world. The religious leaders, however, were trapped in the old and blind to the new. They were looking for a future kingdom preceded by judgment. Jesus, however, taught that the kingdom was now and the judgment was future. The religious leaders were looking for a physical and temporal kingdom (by military rebellion and physical rule), but they were blind to the spiritual significance of the kingdom that Christ brought.

The keys of the kingdom were given to the illuminated, to those who understood the principles\ of the Kingdom, the laws of the Kingdom and the method of the Kingdom. When Jesus told Peter he was giving him the keys to the Kingdom, he was giving them to him as the first representative —the first one to gain the vision of illumination.

Today those keys belong to every one who proclaims that Kingdom. They do not signify a right for the priesthood, because each believer is a priest before God. That’s what we call the “priesthood of the believer”. They give a right for the “scribe” that is, one who the Holy Spirit has illuminated the word to, and instructed in the Kingdom and empowered to teach the meaning of the Word.

So that Christ said not merely; “My Church is to be an aggressive force, but My Church is to be a constructive force in the midst of our world, teaching the Kingdom, and holding the keys of the Kingdom, not to lock, or shut out or exclude but to teach and interpret, and give people the possibility to be empowered by Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to witness and win others to be a part of His Kingdom.

The last part of what Jesus said about binding and loosing, had nothing to do with Peter arbitrarily making decisions about what was allowed or permitted, and what would be forbidden. The binding meant simply proclaiming with authority what God’s word says. Not what Peter would think or decide, but what the Holy Spirit led him to understand, and for us what the Holy Spirit leads us to understand in His Word.

Jesus tells us in Matt. 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. “

A yoke is a heavy wooden harness that fits over the shoulders of an ox or oxen. It is attached to a piece of equipment that the oxen are to pull. A person may be carrying heavy burdens of sin, excessive demands put on you, oppression or weariness in your search to know the Lord better and experience deliverance.

Let JESUS carry the burden you are carrying. It may be a sin in your life that needs to be forgiven, or it may be that you are burdened for someone else. Whatever it is, as a believer and a part of his Kingdom, the Church universal, you can find rest for your soul in Jesus.

Come to him and REMEMBER HIM and what he did for you.

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date February 22, 2026
Text Ephesians 4:29-32
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

As followers of Christ, we are called to embody His character and demonstrate His love to others. One essential aspect of Christ’s character is kindness, which encompasses a gentle spirit, compassion, and selflessness. Today, we will explore the profound impact of kindness and how it reflects the heart of Christ.

Our biblical foundation for this sermon can be found in Ephesians 4:29-32, where the apostle Paul provides practical guidance on cultivating kindness and its transformative effect on our relationships and interactions. In these verses, we will discover the power of our words, the importance of compassionate actions, and the significance of reflecting God’s kindness in our lives.

Let us open our hearts and minds to the words of Scripture as we embark on this journey to understand the vital role of kindness in reflecting Christ’s character.

Guarding Our Words with Kindness

In our journey to reflect Christ’s character, we must first address our speech. Our words can shape lives, mend broken hearts, and inspire hope. As followers of Christ, we must guard our words with kindness, for they hold the potential to either uplift or tear down others.

In Ephesians 4:29, the apostle Paul writes, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what helps build others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” This verse is a gentle reminder that our words should be a source of encouragement, edification, and healing.

When we act like the world, talk like the world, behave like the world, and respond the way the world does, we grieve the Holy Spirit.to feel shock, hurt, and grief. You see, when we deliberately do what is wrong, we drag Him right into the mire of sin with us, because He lives in us, and goes where we go, if we have invited Him into our lives to be our Savior.

(verse 30.) The Holy Spirit convicted us of sin and brought us to Jesus, then He indwelt us, sanctified us, empowered us, and faithfully remains alongside us to help us. So when we deliberately enter into sin, it grieves Him. Just as a husband or wife would feel who has just discovered that his or her spouse has committed adultery, the Holy Spirit is shocked when we dishonor His Presence in our lives.

We need to realize how precious the Holy Spirit is in our lives and honor Him by making sure we live holy and upright lives. If our behavior has been wrong, we should confess our sin and receive cleansing by the blood of Jesus so we can be restored to fellowship. Besides what this does for us:

Consider for a moment the impact of a kind word spoken at the right time. It can brighten someone’s day, lift their spirits, and instill a sense of worth and value. On the contrary, harsh and hurtful words can leave lasting scars, causing pain and division. Therefore, it is crucial that we intentionally choose kindness in our speech, allowing our words to be a source of blessing to those around us.

To cultivate kindness in our speech, we must be mindful of our chosen words and their effect on others. Let us strive to speak words of affirmation, love, and encouragement. Let us actively listen to others, seeking to understand their needs and responding with empathy. And: Let us humbly apologize and seek forgiveness when our words have caused harm. By guarding our words with kindness, we can reflect Christ’s gentle and compassionate heart in our interactions with others.

Now that we understand the significance of guarding our words let’s explore how kindness influences our actions.

Demonstrating Compassionate Actions

Kindness is not limited to words alone; it should also be evident in our actions toward others. Our compassionate actions provide tangible expressions of Christ’s love and care in a world desperately needing kindness.

In the first half of verse 32, Paul instructs us to “be kind and compassionate to one another.” This call goes beyond mere sentiment or feeling; it requires us to actively engage in acts of kindness and compassion towards those around us. Christ’s teachings provide numerous examples of compassionate actions, such as serving the marginalized, helping the needy, and practicing forgiveness.

II Corinthians 12:20-21 Paul says: “For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord ——-this is a Greek word which depicts a church divided by “church politics. It could be translated as quarrels and wranglings. —then jealousy, —which pictures a person not concerned with the interests of others. —- fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander,——, the Greek word means to “talk down, or speak disparagingly of someone.”—— gossip,—arrogance, and disorder.

. I want you to notice that gossip is right in the middle of this list of other words that God is displeased with. It includes: “Repeating what others have said, believing it is the truth, but in reality you say things that you don’t know what the truth really is. Then Paul says he is afraid that: “ my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin, and debauchery in which they have indulged. “

In our text from Ephesians, we see that:

Compassionate actions reflect Christ’s character by embodying His selflessness and sacrificial love. When we extend a helping hand to someone in need, we become the hands and feet of Jesus, bringing His compassion to a hurting world. The transformative impact of kindness and compassion goes beyond the immediate act itself. It has the power to inspire, heal, and restore both the giver and the receiver.

As members of this congregation, let us actively seek opportunities to demonstrate compassionate actions daily. It could be as simple as offering a listening ear to someone struggling, volunteering our time to serve the vulnerable, or extending forgiveness to those who have wronged us. Each act, no matter how small, can make a significant difference in the lives of others.

Let us embrace the challenge to be agents of compassion, reflecting the love of Christ through our actions. By doing so, we will transform the lives of those we touch and experience the profound joy and fulfillment that comes from living out Christ’s character.

As followers of Christ, our ultimate source of inspiration for kindness is His sacrificial love for us. Let’s delve deeper into this aspect.

Reflecting God’s Kindness in our Lives

As we seek to reflect Christ’s character through kindness, it is vital to recognize that God’s kindness towards us serves as the foundation for our actions. We can draw inspiration from the depth of His love and the boundless kindness He has shown us.

In the second half of verse 32, Paul encourages us to forgive each other, just as in Christ, God forgave us. Reflecting on God’s ultimate act of kindness through Christ’s sacrifice and forgiveness, we witness a love that surpasses all understanding. The kindness of God is demonstrated in His willingness to extend mercy and grace to undeserving sinners, offering us redemption and reconciliation. But we must forgive those who sin (that is, trespass against us). We read how important this is in Matthew 6:14-15. If we don’t forgive others, God won’t forgive us..

When we truly grasp the magnitude of God’s kindness towards us, it compels us to reflect that same kindness to others. We become conduits of His love, forgiving as we have been forgiven, extending grace to those who may not deserve it, and showing kindness to friends and foes.

Cultivating a grateful heart and a willingness to forgive is essential to reflecting God’s kindness. As we internalize the depth of God’s love and forgiveness, we are empowered to extend that same kindness to those around us. Let us not withhold forgiveness or allow bitterness to take root in our hearts, but instead, let us embrace the transformative power of God’s kindness and extend it to others.

As we end our time together, let us reflect on the profound truth that kindness is not merely a desirable attribute but an integral part of reflecting Christ’s character. Through our study of Ephesians 4:29-32, we have been reminded of; The significance of guarding our words with kindness, demonstrating compassionate actions, and reflecting on God’s kindness in our lives.

Kindness is not a passive virtue; it requires intentional effort and a genuine desire to emulate Christ’s love. As members of this congregation, let us take to heart the call to pursue kindness in our interactions with others actively. May our words be a source of encouragement and edification, our actions reflect Christ’s compassionate heart, and our forgiveness a testament to God’s boundless grace.

Today, let us commit to reflecting on God’s kindness in our lives:

How do we do this? By cultivating a grateful heart and a willingness to forgive as we have been forgiven. By doing so, we emulate the character of Christ and become beacons of His kindness and love in a world longing for genuine compassion and grace.

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date February 15, 2026
Text Revelation 21: 1–27
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Angels and white light and pretty trees and so forth, —we’ve heard these afterlife visions before. But this vision of heaven in our text, isn’t what we were expecting.

We read in Revelation 21 verses 3 and 4 (a little before our text); “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”

We read these words at the funerals of friends and family because they are so wonderfully comforting. They lift our heads. They console us in our grief. They make meaning of the brokenness we experience every day.

There are some who say; Hevane is just a religious myth invention of the pre-enlightened who needed something to deal with the loss of their loved ones. They say that belief in an afterlife belongs to the flat-earth world, where religion controlled the narrative, not science and reason.

We’ve heard this from: Atheists and secularists as well as scientists and naturalists. They think that Christian faith is merely a crutch for the needy. “The opiate of the masses,” Karl Marx taught. But then, when a person has a near-death experience, things can change.

Dr. Eben Alexander, a Harvard-trained neurobiologist, is no slouch when it comes to his credentials as a scientist and researcher. That’s one reason why his book, Proof of Heaven, is so interesting. He wrote it after returning from a trip into a coma from which his colleagues thought he’d never return. But he did.

It was on November 10, 2008 he woke up with splitting headaches that instantly devolved into seizures. An ambulance rushed him to the hospital. The same hospital where he worked. His only communications were screams and repeated, haunting shrieks for “help.” Ekoli, that virus first discovered at Kikwit in the Bandundu Province of the Congo, then known as Zaire, had attacked his brain in an ultra-rare form of bacterial meningitis. He fell into a coma, and his colleagues gave him a near-zero chance of survival. If he did survive, he’d be a brain-damaged shell of his former self for life.

At work one day, comatose in those same beds the next. The happy ending to this tragedy is that Alexander made a full recovery from his coma, something all of his colleagues admitted was an impossible medical miracle. An afterlife experience during that coma turned a skeptic into a faithful Episcopalian. (It was never declared that he became a committed Christian. Even though he now believes heaven is for real, he also believes in the reality of psychic experiences, such as telepathic communication.) He may just not understand how the Holy Spirit can and does “speak to us” and reveals things to us by his spiritual gifts.

Anyway, Alexander claims that all previous medical explanations for his experience could not apply in his case. Hospital tests showed those well-held medical conventions had no physiological possibility in his comatose situation. He used to believe, as many in the science community believe, that after-death, or out-of-the-body experiences of heaven, were just subconscious hallucinations created by the neocortex based on memories of what the person had previously heard or imagined about the afterlife. In his case the Ekoli infection was spread across his entire cortex, the outermost layer of the brain responsible for all of our higher functioning. Brain scans during his coma showed zero electrical activity in the cortical areas that could access memories, create dreams, or imagine visual and audio sensations. He now claims that all previous medical explanations for his experience could not apply in his case. Hospital tests showed those well-held medical conventions had no physiological possibility in his comatose situation. His vision of heaven could not have happened within his physical brain. Science proves that it couldn’t, and in his book, he disproves all previously held explanations that he and others have always held.

That scientifically unexplainable afterlife experience convinced him of the existence of heaven and of a loving, personal God.

There are many accounts besides his that also give us some idea of the realities of heaven. Perhaps some of you have read the book “Heaven is for Real” about little Four-year-old Todd Burpo, with Lynn Vincent writing it, or have seen the movie that was made about this. His appendix burst, and toxic poison was all through his little body. Abscesses developed, and he went through 2 surgeries. During his time in the ICU, there was a lot of prayer for his recovery while waiting for him to come out of his sedation. It was during this time that his parents learned later that this little boy in his spirit went to heaven. His first recollection before that was that he saw both his dad and mother in the hospital chapel praying. In heaven, he saw a sister that his mother had lost during her pregnancy. He knew nothing about this before. He met his grandpa, “Pops,” who died when his dad was his age, so he never knew him. When his dad showed him a picture of Pops when he was old, he said, “no he didn’t look like that.” His dad showed him a picture of Pops when he was young, and he said quickly, “Yes, that’s how he looked.” He even saw the throne of God. Not knowing that Hebrews tells us that Jesus sits at the right hand of God, when his dad asked him where Jesus was, he told his dad; well, suppose that you are on God’s throne, Jesus sat there, and he pointed to his dad’s right.

When you read about little Todd’s experience, it is encouraging, exhilarating for our faith, and totally believable.

These accounts are a natural starting point for a discussion of our text in which John, in a vision, not a coma, sees a new heaven and a new earth.

Revelation 21 gives us an expanded picture of heaven that is wonderfully earthy. It’s tangible. Concrete. We can wrap our minds around it. It’s not a vision of angels and harps. It’s more what we see when we walk out the doors of our homes. Well, maybe not the home in this area. It’s a city! We may not see a city like this one either, but at least it is comprehensible.

Some people don’t like cities. You are probably one of them, or else you wouldn’t live in the Nobleton area. However, I remember my good friend, Harvie Conn, and a late professor who taught at Westminster Theological Seminary courses on Urban Missions. I took a course from him back in 1987. He said at a conference. “If you prefer the isolation of the countryside, you’d better get used to the city, because someday you will be living in one. One that is perfect.” He went on to describe what is in our text.

John has a vision of the arrival of the New Heavens. Like the long-awaited bride who enters the aisle in first view of her husband -to-be, the New Jerusalem emerges from the sky in beauty and splendor. This breathtaking city is nothing like New York, Paris, London, Shanghai or Beijing.

It is 1,500 miles long, wide and tall (Rev. 21:16, great perimeter walls made of jasper (vs. 12, 18), foundations encrusted with countless precious jewels (19,20). Some commentators say that there is no way that this city—a giant cube—is literally that large. They say that it symbolizes perfection—a perfect cube, like the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle, he indicates the perfection of the Church, and the holiness of the body of Christ. But I’ve got news for those doubters. It needs to be that large in order for the millions of Christians who will be living there for the rest of Eternity.

The city itself and its streets are made of pure gold (vs. 18,21). Despite how literally or symbolically you read Revelation, we can all agree that this city is intended to blow away any concept of a structure or structures we could ever imagine. But the wonder of this city isn’t in what it’s made of; it’s what it represents. God could have created anything for eternity. God is God! But in choosing this New City as our eternity in the New heavens, God sent some clear messages about life then and now.

We read that there will be no temple in this city, a fact that would stun the original Christians with their Jewish roots. But there is no more need for a temple in heaven—Jesus is the new mediator of forgiveness and relationship with God, not a building.

Then it is more than that, there’ll be no need for forgiveness! There will be nothing unclean in this new city. Nothing accursed, that is, here on this earth now, because of the fall when Adam and Eve disobeyed God.

But it has been noted, an even greater implication. The temple was understood as the place where heaven met Earth. It was the house of God, the place where his very presence intersected human existence. Heaven needs no temple because the presence of God is literally experienced everywhere and without end.

Many of us battle for holiness in a seemingly constant area of brokenness in our lives. Others experience God as distant, wanting a “personal relationship with Christ” to feel more personal. We can trust that our very design stirs those kinds of desires within us because we have been created to have those needs met eternally.

Also, the Heavenly City (The New Jerusalem), represents the fulfillment of human purpose! Almost any commentator will say that we must read this text in light of Genesis 1-2. Look at how it all began, and how it will all end.

Eden was a pristine garden, and people were put there with a “cultural mandate” to do as God did: create and cultivate (Gen. 1:26-28). Fill the earth, subdue it, bring order, make beauty, take care of the garden, create culture, raise generations, create civilization. And eventually, write computer code, pen a novel, manage workers, design a city park, teach long division, Algebra, and advanced Mathematics. Build schools and hospitals, discover medicine, and do surgery. But all within a sinless and perfect society. We have managed to do some of these things after thousands of years, after much sin, strife, debauchery, wars, and evil.

We see in Genesis 11 that it was all beginning to happen. Migration of peoples. Shared language. Brick making—but then eventually they said, “Come let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top reaching the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves (vs 4), but that phase is where it all went horribly wrong. The Genesis 1 cultural mandate was cannibalized in the service of SELF.

But here in Revelation 21, this city is the true fulfillment of Genesis 1. Heaven is the evidence that human purpose in the image of God comes to God-honoring fruition. Why a city in the middle of the garden of heaven? Because it is the product of what is intended man to do,–being like Him, creating and cultivating for millennia of history. We add to his creation and fulfill our purposes for his good pleasure. Chapter 22 should be pleasing to those of you who are longing for a place more like the “Garden of Eden” instead of just this big, gigantic city. “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of three are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. “

The 70+ years that God gives us on this earth are merely the introduction to the story, not the story itself. We are citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:20), in the present tense, and our lives today can be the proof of heaven as we live, and our prayer is, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

In Luke 22:15, Jesus said to his disciples: “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the Kingdom of God.” We continue to eat the bread and drink the cup in remembrance of Him, until that day that we shall see Him.

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date February 8, 2026
Text Romans 8:26-39
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

About 250 years ago, a preacher by the name of Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon called Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. The title reflects the attitude many people have about God — that he is angry with us and wants to punish us.

People believed that 3 centuries ago, and they still do today. In fact, there have always been those whose concept of God is that of the ultimate killjoy. One man described it like this: “I grew up believing that God spends his time looking for people who are having fun, and then makes them stop.”

There are a lot of people like that. They believe that God is always looking for a way to get even with them for mistakes they’ve made in the past. They believe that God is against them, not for them.

Where do people get these negative ideas about God? Well, they certainly don’t get them from the Bible. You have twist the Bible and use it out of context to find anything but a loving, kind, good, merciful Father who wants the best for his children.

In fact, if Jesus had preached that famous sermon I just mentioned, he would have called it Sinners in the Arms of Loving God, because the message of the Bible is that God is for us, not against us.

Today, we’ll read a passage of scripture that teaches this principle, and examine four ways that God has revealed that he is “for” us.

First of all…

1. He prays for us.

You’ve heard the saying, “Pray hardest when it’s hardest to pray.” The good news is that when it is hardest to pray, God prays for us.

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

There have been times in my life when I have been too angry, or too hurt, or too discouraged to pray. I couldn’t find the words to express what my heart was experiencing. When we don’t know how to pray, the Spirit prays for us. He takes our prayers and translates them, so to speak, and presents them to the Father on our behalf.

It’s like watching a foreign film. When the characters speak, their lips move one way but the words don’t correspond — because the dialogue has been dubbed. The actor may have been speaking Japanese, but we hear English.

In the same way, when we pray, the Holy Spirit dubs His voice over ours so that our prayers can be heard at the throne of God. God does this because He knows us, inside and out, through and through.

27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

2. He always gives us the best.

28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (NASV)

We often labor under the misconception that bad things can happen to us. We believe that we can be victimized by events in our life.

But this isn’t the case. The Bible makes an incredible promise that God will cause everything that happens to work out for our best.

Do you know what that means? Nothing bad can happen to you. God is in control of every situation, and he’ll make it work out right. One caveat, of course, is that this promise applies to those who are committed to him.

There’s a story in the Bible about a man named Joseph who was his father’s favorite son. He was the youngest of many brothers, and they were jealous of him — so jealous that they decided to kill him. At the last minute, however, they changed their mind. Instead, they sold him into slavery, and told their dad he had been eaten by a wild animal.

Joseph became a slave in the household of a high-ranking Egyptian official, but instead of becoming bitter about the events of his life, he worked hard as a slave.

Eventually, he was given complete administrative responsibility over the Egyptian official’s household. He was a slave, but he lived like a king. His brothers certainly would have been surprised to hear this.

This would have been a good ending, but the story takes a bad turn. The official’s wife made a pass at Joseph and, out of faithfulness to God, Joseph turned her down. She was insulted by his rejection, so she accused Joseph of sexual harassment.

He was promptly tossed in prison, where he stayed for several years. When the king of Egypt heard that Joseph had the ability to interpret dreams, he asked Joseph to interpret a dream for him. Joseph did, warning that Egypt would experience years of prosperity followed by years of drought, and he recommended that the king find a wise man to help the nation prepare for hard times.

The king was so impressed with Joseph that he put Joseph in charge of the drought project. Eventually Joseph was made second in command in the entire nation.

During the years of prosperity, as Egypt prepared for the drought, Joseph became quite well known. He married and had a family, and lived in a palace.

It is the ultimate success story. But remember, it didn’t look that way when Joseph was being sold into slavery, or when he sat alone in an Egyptian prison. However, God was always in control — working out every detail of Joseph’s life for the best.

Here are two good verses to remember:

However, the LORD your God…turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. (Deuteronomy 23:5)

Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing. (Nehemiah 13:2)

3. He gives us a clean slate.

30 And having chosen us, he called us to come to Him; and when we came, he declared us “not guilty,” filled us with Christ’s goodness, gave us right standing with Himself, and promised us His glory. (The Living Bible)

Did you ever play with an Etch-a-Sketch? I used to do it with my little brother. Remember how you would draw a picture, and when you made a mistake, you just turned it upside down, shook it hard, and the mistake disappeared? You’ve got to start over again with a clean slate.

That is what God does for us. He gives us a clean slate. The Etch-a-Sketch verse of the Bible is…

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

4. He gives us whatever we need

32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?

God knows what we need, more than we know ourselves.

We didn’t know that we needed salvation, but God knew, and he sent His Son. We didn’t know that sin would destroy our lives, but God knew, and he made forgiveness available to us.

We didn’t know that peace of mind is more valuable than money in the bank, but God knew, and he gave it to us as a gift.

We didn’t know that we would need spiritual power to make it through life from day to day, but God knew, and he made us more than conquerors.

Whatever we need, God gives to us.

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

Paul summed it up this way:

Verse 32: “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

A preacher once said that his job is to go around the country telling people that God isn’t mad at them. That’s what Paul is saying in Romans 8. God is not mad at you. He is your advocate, not your adversary. He is on your side. He prays for you. He gives you the best. He gives you a clean slate. He takes care of your needs. He does all of this because he is for you. And he wants you to be for him.

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date February 1, 2026
Text I Corinthians 11:17-34
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

A little girl asked her mother one day as she was preparing dinner. “Mommy, why do you cut off the ends of the ham before you cook it?” The girl’s mother turned and looked at her and said, “Sweetie, I’m not really sure, but I suppose you cut the ends off of the meat so that the meat can better absorb the juices and spices and make it more tender. Maybe you’d better ask Grandma since she was the one I learned it from. She always did it that way.” The little girl called her grandmother later that day and asked her the same question. Her grandmother responded, “I’m not really sure, I think it is so that the juices will be absorbed better. But why don’t you call Nana? She is who I learned it from. The little girl began to get a bit frustrated with the whole idea, but decided to call her great-grandmother anyway. “Nana, mommy was preparing dinner the other day, and she cut the ends off the ham before she cooked it. I asked her why, and she said that she did it because the juices would absorb better, making it more tender. She told me to ask Grandma to make sure, since she learned it from her. So, I called her, and she said the same thing about the juices and all, but that she learned it from you and that I should ask you. Nana, why did you cut off the ends of the ham before you cooked it? There was a long pause, and she thought she heard muffled laughter on the phone. “What’s so funny, Nana?” She finally replied, “Sweetie, I used to cut the ends off of the ham before I cooked it because my pan was too small.”

Many times, we end up doing things for the wrong reasons because no one ever bothered to ask why.

We have developed habits and traditions, sometimes based on nothing more than false information. This is especially true with theological and church-related traditions. We continue to believe things or do things without ever understanding why we believe them or do them, and we never ask the reason why. This happens in both the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches.

The title of my message this morning is;

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH COMMUNION and THE NEW COVENANT?

We want to look at the reasons behind why we do this. The Lord’s Supper, the only act of worship for which Christ gave special direction, is discussed by Paul in our text. In the early church, the Supper was usually preceded by a fellowship meal, called the Agape, or Love Feast. “Feast of charity,” they are called in Jude 12. Disorders at the love feast cause the Apostle to review past teaching. Because of the problem they were having at the communion services, Paul took the time to explain the reasons why they were taking communion. Paul justifies his rebuke by reviewing the real and true significance of the ordinance, tracing the teaching back to the Lord himself.

Their problem was that some were getting drunk on the wine. Some were gorging themselves on the bread and the food. Some were not able to partake at all because the others were being gluttonous. You know how that is; when the first people in line take almost everything, and by the time you get there, there isn’t much left!

In verses 33 and 34, we see that Paul wanted to make sure they would truly understand its meaning and to wait for each other as they ate. The bottom line of the problem: they didn’t understand what the “big deal was with Communion.”

Paul explained to them the reasons for communion, and told them it was more than a meal, it was a MEMORIAL.

There are three significant factors that are involved in partaking of the Lord’s Supper. In this passage, we see first;

THE RETROSPECTIVE IMPLICATION OF THE LAST SUPPER;

IT IS A TIME TO REMEMBER

Paul recalls Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. While Paul was not present, the Lord had revealed to him what happened there. In verse 23 we read; “…I received from the Lord….” Jesus was interpreting something old: the Passover meal that we read about in Exodus 12. This Passover feast included a lamb. Jesus is our Lamb who has been sacrificed for us. In I Corinthians 5:7-8 we read, “Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread, not with malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.” Paul was referring to the sinfulness that was going on in the church. In the verses before, he is talking about removing the sexually immoral person from their fellowship. In the example from the Exodus, perhaps you remember that as the Israelites prepared to flee Egypt, they were commanded to prepare bread without yeast because they didn’t have time to wait for it to rise. And because yeast was a symbol of sin, they were commanded to sweep all of it out of the house. Christ is our Passover lamb, the perfect sacrifice for our sin. Because he has delivered us from the slavery of sin, we should have nothing to do with the sins of the past (that is, the old bread)

The Passover feast included unleavened bread and wine, though not specifically mentioned as a part of the original Passover meal. It is a very special meal because of its historical roots. The Passover meal commemorated Israel’s protection from the angel of death through the sprinkled blood and their deliverance from Egyptian slavery. We read in

Ezekiel 19-24 that the one who sins will surely die. Just like God told Adam at the beginning. But one who is righteous will LIVE. However, in verse 24 we see that if a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does …they will die. When we were studying Joshua 6 the fall of Jericho) and then Joshua 7,(when the Israelites were defeated at AI) We found out why Achan and his whole family and possessions were destroyed because he was righteous and was brought into the land of Canaan but disobeyed the direct command that God had given them, and he took the devoted items which were to be destroyed (the robe) and the dedicated items that were for the temple (silver and gold).

Death often came to the Israelites because they turned away from God and worshiped idols, time and time again, so when they did that, they were destroyed. THIS IS BECAUSE:

THEY WERE UNDER THE OLD COVENANT

Because we are now under God’s grace because of Jesus, the judgment for those who rebel against God will be at the end times. Then they will DIE.

Jesus was instituting something NEW( THE NEW COVENANT) ; the Communion of believers as described in our text. This quickly became a frequent celebration in the church, not just something done once per year, like in the Old Covenant. The whole reason God instituted the Passover feast was so that they would remember; Exodus 12:17, 24-27. He told them, “Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come…Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, “What does this ceremony mean to you?—tell them, “It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.”

The whole reason Jesus instituted the Communion was so that we would REMEMBER HIM. The words “do this in remembrance of me, involve more than just memory. The words suggest an active calling to mind, and the phrase “of me” is wider than of my death. The person who did the work is the object of the calling to mind. We are not to just remember a historical event, as we would just recall any dramatic past event, like 9/11 or perhaps the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, for instance. But rather, Paul exhorts us to remember Christ and his atoning work on the cross, and this involves the whole work of our redemption in Christ. It also involves his resurrection because we are remembering a living Savior. The new covenant reminds us of the Old Mosaic Covenant, which could only condemn. The usual Old Testament word for “covenant” emphasizes the initiative of God in it. The new covenant provided an effective remission of sins. The phrase “in (or by) my blood” points to the basis on which we have this new blessing, that of forgiveness of sins. We are still condemned by the law and by sin, but now we have forgiveness through his shed blood. Some commentators will say the translation could be: “this cup is the new covenant, and it cost my blood.” Our salvation is free for us, but this liberation from sin was paid for by Christ through his shed blood.

Now not only does the Lord’s supper have RETROSPECTIVE IMPLICATION (that is, to remember), but it also has;

A PROSPECTIVE IMPLICATION ( verse 26)

IT IS A TIME TO REJOICE BY PROCLAMATION

Paul states clearly that we are to proclaim something. According to a Biblical dictionary, PROCLAIM means: to announce, to declare, to propagate, to make known; to proclaim publicly, to publish. According to Webster’s dictionary, proclaim means to declare publicly, typically insistently, proudly, or defiantly, and in either speech or writing.

ANNOUNCE IS, to give outward indication of, show to declare or declare to be solemnly, officially, or formally, to praise or glorify openly or publicly extol.

So we declare, or make known publicly and announce the death of Jesus.

We set forth, or exhibit in an impressive manner, the fact that he was put to death; we exhibit the emblems of his broken body and shed blood, and our belief in the fact that he died. This shows that the ordinance was to be so for public use, to be a proper showing forth of our belief in the death of the Savior. It should be public. It is one mode of professing attachment to the Redeemer, and its public observance often has a most impressive effect on those who witness its observance. And we can rejoice in this because it is where the perfect blood of atonement was spilt for our sins. That atonement was also for our healing. It is “by his wounds that we are healed.” We also proclaim Jesus Christ for the future. The supper has both a backward and a forward look. We are to remember and look back on Christ as our Savior, and we are to look forward to his return as our Lord and King. We thus partake of the bread and cup as a memorial to these two implications in relation to Jesus Christ. This proclamation is in anticipation of his Second Coming.

This demonstrates that it was the steady belief of the primitive church that the Lord Jesus would return to judge the world, and that it was designed that this ordinance should be perpetuated and observed until Jesus returns. In every generation, therefore, and in every place where there are Christians, it is to be observed, until the Son of God shall return; and the necessity of its observance shall cease only when the whole body of the redeemed shall be permitted to see their Lord, and there shall be no need of those emblems to remind them of him, for all shall “see him as he is.”

This tells the world that we believe that he has risen and will return for his Church. This is where we rejoice—knowing he is alive!

Then perhaps most important, we must consider;

THE INTROSPECTIVE IMPLICATION OF THE LORD’S SUPPER (verses 27-28) ——– IT IS A TIME TO REPENT

When we share in Communion, we are given the opportunity to examine our lives before God and our brethren. There must be preparation before participation. We must understand what this involves. The words “unworthy manner” refer to our attitude when taking communion. All of us are unworthy, except for the reconciliation that is possible because of Christ taking our sins on himself when he died on the cross, but eating in an unworthy manner is the thing that we must guard against. It must be with an attitude of self-judgment, which leads us to confession of sin. Verse 28 tells us that we “should examine ourselves.” We should ask God to show us any unclean way in us. We should openly allow the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sinfulness and seek to be restored on the basis of Christ’s death on the cross. This should be a willingness to “turn around” to repent of what we have been doing. This is necessary because then we will not be held in judgment. It is at our communion service where we really are partaking in a worthy manner. What this passage is about is taking communion when we are living in known sin, and when we refuse to confess this and be forgiven, to eat the bread and drink from the cup without examining ourselves. It is then that we are held in judgment.

Having said that, this doesn’t mean that if we can’t remember a sin we have committed or if it isn’t brought to our attention by the Holy Spirit, that we are taking communion in “an unworthy manner.” You see, the only way that happens is when we are living in sin, we refuse to confess it, and still take communion. What Jesus did for us on the cross covers our sin. His blood covers our sin. The blood is powerful, we sing about. We “plead the blood and use it and the name of Jesus, so that demons will be cast out. And deliverance will come to those who are demonized. Praise the Lord that our unworthiness isn’t because we have a bad memory. Jesus provides the forgiveness if we let him.

Oftentimes, we may have the tendency to echo along with the disciples on the night when Jesus was betrayed, “Lord, is it I?” Have I betrayed you? Lord, do I need to judge my actions? Yes, it is every one of us. That has betrayed the Lord. It was not just the hand of Judas who betrayed Christ; it was all of mankind, therefore Christ submitted to the sacrifice. Jesus was not abducted by a gang of murderers; all the people who ever lived, and that ever are to live, gathered together so to speak, in that one representation, and betrayed the Lord.

Do you remember a time when you had an opportunity to speak for Christ and lost it? I do! It was then that we betrayed the Lord. Do you remember a time when two courses were set before you, the one dishonorable but leading to immediate success, the other honorable but meaning strenuous endeavor and doubtful success in a worldly sense, and you paused and took the course that led to satisfy self rather than God? I do! It was then that we betrayed the Lord. We betray the Lord if we talk ourselves out of giving 10% of our income (our tithe). We let Satan encourage us to give a smaller offering.

Examining our lives before the Lord doesn’t mean that we condemn ourselves, because the Lord doesn’t condemn us. The danger is if we do not recognize our sin and do not confess it and repent, this is when we will be judged before God.

I know that many churches today want to emphasize the GRACE AND LOVE OF GOD. They think people have been condemned enough. All they have heard is that they are a sinner. They call it “fire and brimstone” type of preaching. I tend to disagree. Most people haven’t heard either the GRACE OF GOD or CONDEMNATION, and certainly not the GOOD NEWS that God wants to save them if they place their faith and trust in his Son, Jesus. I’m sure that you have heard people say that they really don’t think God would send anyone to Hell. They are right. God doesn’t. He prepared Hell for the Devil and the fallen angels that were cast out of heaven with him (which are demons). He is not willing that anyone should go there; in fact, loves us because he IS LOVE, BUT HE IS ALSO JUST. He must punish rebellious sinners, but in fact, we send ourselves to Hell if we don’t accept him as our sacrifice for sin, and we don’t accept him as our Savior.

I remember some years ago, Jeannene and I were watching a movie on TV, and we were astonished to see a scene where a man and woman were eating in a restaurant. She was saying that her mother was always preaching at her, and saying, “God has a wonderful plan for your life.” Then she threw out the rhetorical question that may be deep in all of our hearts at some time or another, “What about my plans—weren’t they good enough for you, God? I had plans to be married, have a husband, have children, wasn’t that good enough for you, God?”—You see, the truth of her question is in the heart of everyone, even professing Christians, we think our plans are just as good as God’s plans, and as important as His, and in fact better than God’s plan for us, thus the rebellion against God. The answer to her rhetorical question was NO!. Her plans weren’t good enough for God because they left God out. Her desires were what God had in mind, though. All we need to do is surrender to him, –“delight ourselves in him, and he has promised to give us the desires of our heart.” (Psalm 37:4)

If we come to the communion table this morning with an introspective outlook on our hearts, judging ourselves for our shortcomings and asking forgiveness, this is all Christ asks. Then we will experience the fullness of joy this memorial offers.

If you have come to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and have been born again by His Spirit, we invite you this morning to share with us in fellowship around the Lord’s table.

Scroll down past Sermon for more info

Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date January 25, 2026
Text Matthew 5:33-42
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Perhaps you remember when I have mentioned in the past; Former astronaut Michael Collins, speaking at a banquet some years ago, quoted the estimate that the average man speaks 25,000 words a day and the average woman speaks 30,000; Then he added; “unfortunately, when I come home each day I’ve spoken my 25,000, but my wife hasn’t started her 30,000 yet.

According to statisticians, the average person spends at least 1/5 of his or her life talking. Ordinarily, in a single day, enough words are used to fill a 50-page book. In one year, the average person’s words would fill 132 books, each containing 400 pages.

Our words are important, not only what we say, but how we say it. A man who is known as “a man of his word” is respected. It seems that today it is becoming more and more difficult to find those who will always speak the truth. Situational ethics became accepted in the early 1960s and continues to this day. It is even more normal today than ever before. It is the guiding principle for many professing Christians, instead of the Word of God. If it is more convenient to lie, as long as it doesn’t seemingly hurt anyone, this has become an accepted way, or whichever solution offers the greatest good, whether it goes against the clear teaching of God’s Word or not. We see in our text the beatitudes in practical form. Jesus gives us examples. He has moved from the doctrine of the beatitudes to exhortation. When he stated that blessed are the pure in heart, we begin to understand that unless there is pureness of heart, there will be pollution of our lips. God’s ideal is that our word is a pledge. There is no need for oath-taking to support your word and ensure that you speak the truth, or emphasize what you say with an explicative. Jesus sets forth the challenge to end resentment and retaliation with love for our enemies instead of just our neighbor as the old standard demanded.

We can be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect ( further down in verse 48), if we see that perfection as functional. A thing is perfect if it fully realizes the purpose for which it was planned, designed, and made.

This morning, let’s look at three functional exhortations which lead to Christian perfection as it should be Biblically understood. The first exhortation is:

I. THAT A WORD IS A PLEDGE.

We as Christians should be able to say yes and have people believe us, or no and be understood as speaking the truth. In Numbers 30:2 we read, “When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.” Then in Deut. 23;21,22; if you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do.

Now, in the time of Jesus, there were two unsatisfactory things about taking oaths. One was what might be called,

1. Frivolous swearing. Taking an oath when no oath was necessary or proper. It had become far too common a custom to introduce a statement by saying, “by your life” or “by my head” or, “may I never see the comfort of Israel or Jerusalem if that isn’t true…” An example for us today might be: “I swear on my mother’s grave” or “I cross my heart and hope to die.” These are old and not used much anymore; we just stick an explicative in our sentence. The Rabbis said that to use any form of oath in a simple statement, like “That olive tree produces a lot of olives, was sinful and wrong. How many times do we hear people make a simple declarative statement, but add an explicative to it, perhaps preceding the statement, or adding it as an adjective? Most people who do that have gotten into so much of a habit of doing this that they don’t even realize that they have done it. They don’t think of it as swearing, unless they have used vulgar language.

The ideal is that we should never need an oath or explicative to guarantee the truth or make the person think that something was a big deal. A person’s character should make that unnecessary. In fact, when a Christian does this, even unbelievers might wonder if you are a Christian. The principle which Jesus lays down is quite clear. In effect, he is saying that no one can keep God out of any transaction. God is already there. Life cannot be divided into compartments. Not one kind of language in church, and another outside of church during the week. He doesn’t have to be invited, or His name used in vain, even when expressing astonishment in a situation. Usually when that happens, his name isn’t being invoked “in prayer.’” He is always there, and all promises are sacred, and all circumstances include him in some way, even though we aren’t aware of it.

There is a big difference between Islamic nations and the West. In our culture, we have made an issue over the separation of church and state. In France, it is worse than in the U.S. In Islam, there is no such thing as the separation of church and state. Everything in life is religious and is referred to in either the Koran or the Hadith, which are the writings about what Mohammed said or did. There is no separation between the religious and the secular, for in orthodox Islam, there is no secular. That is why it would be quite a blow to our way of life to follow Shariah Law, as Muslims would like to see happen. They certainly think that God (Allah) is in every transaction. As Christians, God should be a part of our daily living situations, if we are living for him, and have Jesus in our lives, but we shouldn’t be content to follow Islamic law, which is based on some interpretation from parts of the Old Testament, and also declarations by Imams in the past.

The second Jewish custom was in some ways even worse than frivolous swearing; it might be called:

2. Evasive Swearing.

The Jews divided oaths into two classes: those which were absolutely binding and those which were not. In our culture today, it’s kind of like crossing your fingers when you don’t really mean something. Many people, including some professing Christians, seem to have no problem with telling so-called “little white lies” if it is to protect themselves or someone else, in moments when the truth would be condemning. We are either truthful people, or we are not. Often, we use inflection or body language or adjectives to mislead each other, to orchestrate a response that is not based on truth? Do we give ourselves the right to say one thing and mean something else? All of that was the problem Jesus was addressing in this section. Have you ever gone up to someone and said, “Hey, it’s good to see you,” and everything about you says that you’re enthusiastic, but you can’t wait to quit talking to them? Or maybe you go out of your way to avoid greeting and talking to someone that you have something against. Have you ever been in a setting where you hear a person advocate a position and you say, “That’s a great argument, or that’s a great point, very thoughtful presentation you’ve made there.” But at the next meeting, you vote against their proposal? If asked, “Weren’t you in favor of it? –You say, “No, I thought the proposal was great, but I just never agreed with it.” Yet the impression you left with the person was that you agreed with their point and would support them when the vote came up. We learn to use language to fool and manipulate people, get our way, open doors, and advance our cause. And we do it in such a way that we can’t be strictly called liars, but in fact, we are. That is what most politicians do when they are campaigning.

Having said that, I must also say that we must not deliberately say things to hurt another, even if it is the truth. We first must earn the right to speak into another person’s life by spending time with them and getting to know them. Also, there are different ways to say things that are truthful, but do not destroy the person or discourage them so much that they do not want to see you again, let alone talk to you. Think about your relationships with family, friends, in the body of Christ, and those who don’t believe in or know Christ. Have you ever said things in a way that you know hurt someone, and your attitude is simply—“Well, it was the truth.” And there is no attempt at an apology or reconciliation. Oh yes, then there is when you don’t say everything—- you didn’t evade the issue, you hit it right on, so like the Pharisees, you can say that you were not guilty of evasive swearing to something that wasn’t quite the truth, but in the meantime you have destroyed another child of God.

When Jesus said, “Do not swear at all” (verse 34), He was laying down the principle that the Christian must not have two standards of truth, but that his ordinary speech must be as sacredly true as his oath. In the kingdom of God, that principle holds true; oaths, which were common in Old Testament times becomes unnecessary.

Then the second Functional exhortation, which leads to Christian perfection, is:

II DO NOT RESIST AN EVIL PERSON

Jesus clarifies the ancient law that we have in Deuteronomy 19:21: “Show no pity; life for life, eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” These laws are often quoted as amongst the bloodthirsty, savage, and merciless laws of the Old Testament, but before we say that, we must understand certain things. This Old Testament law was, in fact, the beginning of mercy. Its original aim was definitely the limitation of vengeance. In the very earliest days, the vendetta and the blood feud were characteristic of tribal society. Even in what we would call modern day, about 60-70 years ago in Irian Jaya (Indonesia), if a man of one tribe injured a man of another tribe, then at once all the members of the tribe of the injured man went out to take vengeance on all the members of the tribe who committed the injury, and the vengeance desired was nothing less than death.

Now, this law in Deuteronomy deliberately limits vengeance; only one man must be punished, the offender. It was never a law to give this right to a private individual, but a court. It was to guide the judge. It was not usually carried out literally and soon became a money matter where something of equal value was accepted. A bad tooth might be taken out as vengeance for a good tooth that was lost, etc., then finally, money became the way to satisfy grievances, as it is mainly for us today.

In the third world, like where we were in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, corruption was rampant, so it wasn’t money to satisfy grievances, but paying the judge in order to get a favorable decision. The ancient law of life for a life is upheld quickly also. If you hit a pedestrian with your vehicle, it doesn’t matter if it was their fault or not. You are guilty. The public will try to kill you, even before if the person is dead or not.

This eye-for-an-eye way of judging in the Old Testament was not the whole ethic, but many times mercy was shown. Now in spite of these guidelines and the fact that this law was to limit violence, Jesus obliterated the very principle of that law, because retaliation, however restricted, has no place in the Christian life.

This is A new spirit of non-resentment and non-retaliation. Verse 39, “if someone hits you on the right cheek, (a back of the hand gesture of contempt), then turn the other cheek for him to hit too. Make it twice as insulting. Jesus is saying, even if a man should direct at you the most deadly and calculated insult, you must on no account retaliate, and you must on no account resent it. The committed Spirit-filled Christian has learned this. Jesus himself was called all kinds of names; “son of Beelzebub (which is Satan), “a gluttonous man” (not only piggish in eating habits, but a hog or swine, a double insult for a Jew to be categorized as a pig, an unclean animal for them; also he was called “a wine bibber” (KJV old English– meaning an intemperate guzzler, a wino or drunk). A friend of tax gatherers (like our I.R.S.), only the tax collectors of Jesus’ time were thieves ( I know you think our government is stealing our money with our taxes too), but these men habitually took more from the people than what Rome demanded. They skimmed off the top, charging the people so that they could turn in what the government required, but then have plenty extra for themselves. Since the population couldn’t do anything about it, tax collectors were a despised people. Also, a friend of prostitutes. Pretty insulting names, always with the implication that he was like the company he kept.

The early Christians were called cannibals because of communion, and the statement that Jesus said—“This is my body,” and they were accused of immorality, gross and shameless, because their services included the love feast.

People are insulted time and time again because they are not invited to do certain things in church, a note of thanks is omitted, or in some way they did not get the recognition they thought they deserved, or perhaps they didn’t get their way. Does this mean that we don’t need to thank people and make them feel appreciated? Of course not—-quite the contrary, but we must learn to forget insults, for the true Christian has learned from the Lord to accept any insult and never resent it, and never seek to retaliate, no matter how badly they have been wronged. Never resent what people say, or what they do or don’t do to us.

You may be thinking, Pastor Paul, that’s not me. I just can’t let people walk all over me. No, you can’t, but Christ living within you– can! We must say, ‘I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength.”

Then the third exhortation that Jesus gives is in verse 40. He tells us; If someone wants to ‘sue you’ and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. So we see that:

III. YOU SHOULD GIVE FREELY OF YOUR GOODS AND OF YOURSELF

This is easier said then done. —-The Tunic was a long sack-like inner garment (but not undergarment) made of cotton or linen. The poorest man would have a change of tunics, because it was equal to our shirts. (thus we have the expression-for a generous person; “he’d give you the shirt off his back.” Then, a Cloak is an old English word used to designate an outer coat. (Remember in school when we used to call the place where you would hang your coats, the “cloak room?” Well, a cloak was the outer garment or coat, still used in the middle east of those who wear robes. It was a heavy outer robe. A person would most likely have only one, and it was even used as a blanket at night. We read in Exodus 22:26,27, that if you take a cloak as a pledge (collateral—something of value), you should give it back at night because he needs it—he only has one. By rights, a man’s cloak couldn’t be taken away from him. So you see, it’s like—you don’t take out a home equity loan for a certain amount of money, and the lender says, fine I will take your house until you pay this amount back. No, your equity is the collateral, or insurance, if you will, against default of the loan. So this outer garment is very important and a man has NO RIGHT TO TAKE IT AWAY. –

-but Jesus says if a man needs a tunic, give him your outer garment as well. Unbelievable! You see, as Christians, we should never stand on our rights; a Christian never disputes about legal rights at all with their fellow believers. Some people are forever standing on their rights, suing people about anything and everything. But you see, WE HAVE NO RIGHTS. A Christian should think not of his rights, but of his duties; not of his privileges but of his responsibilities. The Christian is the man who has forgotten that he has any rights at all.

Finally, in verse 41, Jesus talks about going the extra mile. Carry something for someone (usually Roman soldiers demanded this), two miles, if he compels you to carry it one mile. Don’t resent this. The truly committed Spirit-filled Christian will never stand on his rights, but rather believe he should have. But always his responsibility to help and to give, and demonstrate the love of Christ.

May the Holy Spirit convict us and show us where we have failed to be an encouragement to others. May He help us to act the way Jesus would act.

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(God’s Way To Prosper Us
And Show Us How To Achieve Financial Excellence)

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date January 18, 2026
Text Malachi 3:5-8; Gen.14:18-20; Heb. 5;4-8; 6:20; 7:1-28
Pastor Paul Lehmann

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The difference between Worldly Prosperity and Godly Prosperity is: Worldly Prosperity means getting what you can for yourself (and your family), making money so that you will have more material goods for yourself and your family. This all includes being successful and gaining power to make more money. The world’s standard pushes us to make money in order to spend more money, and this, of course, helps our economy. Worldly Prosperity: The emphasis is on GETTING. (Along the way, we might give to charities, even the church, but even this involves the attitude of receiving a benefit in the form of a tax deduction.
On the other hand, Godly Prosperity means being In the center of God’s will so that you will be blessed or prosper. What you get to provide for you and your family is a blessing from God. When you prosper a lot, you can give more to the Kingdom. Kingdom principles (as part of God’s Prosperity), mean making money because God blesses it and it is needed for myself, my family, and the Kingdom. Being successful means receiving favor from God and man so that your margin of increase is greater for GIVING to the Kingdom (which means giving to the Lord Jesus Christ), not the church. In Godly Prosperity The emphasis, is on GIVING NOT GETTING.
The difference in the two perspectives is one of attitude, based on your understanding of God’s involvement with your finances. Even though we don’t give to the Lord, in order to get from Him, he teaches in His Word that you reap what you sow, and that we should expect a harvest. It might not always be a material or financial “reward” for giving, it may sometimes be spiritual.
This morning as we are now in a new year we want to talk about; : Financial Excellence, by looking at and understanding that;
GOD’S WAY TO PROPER US IS—-THE TITHE
For some, talking about the tithe, or tithing, is a touchy subject. just doesn’t make sense that God would ask us to give ten percent of our income. God doesn’t need our money, does He?
A pastor asked a farmer, “Brother, if you had 10 cows, would you give 1 to the Lord?” I sure would the farmer replied. “Well, if you had 100 chickens, would you give 10 to the Lord? Sure, the farmer said. “Well, how about if you had 10 pigs, would you give 1 to the Lord?” “Aw, come on, pastor, cut that out, you know I have 10 pigs.” As long as the discussion is hypothetical, we don’t have a problem, but when it hits us where we have to do something about it, it is difficult.
God has ordained the tithe as our recognition of His lordship and our declaration that we have submitted our interest in this material world to Him. In our day, actually giving part of a crop, or fruit, or animals, is not the issue. It’s whether we “rob” God of what is rightfully His, just as much as the people Malachi was talking about in our text.
There are those in the body of Christ who argue that the tithe is not in the New Testament and that God’s people were told to give their 10% as part of THE LAW Christians are not required to tithe. These assumptions are actually incorrect. The fact is the practice of the tithe predates the Law and it is in the New Testament.
SO WE NEED TO CONSIDER IF THE TITHE IS FOR US TODAY
First, let’s look at the Old Testament. The word tithe simply means “a tenth”. It is a percentage of what we receive as “income, and we are commanded to tithe in Leviticus 27:30-34 and Deuteronomy 26:1-4. A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a 5% of the value to it. The entire tithe of the herd and flock, every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord. He must not pick out the Good from the bad or make any substitution. If he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.
Proverbs 3:9-10 tells us: “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing.” We see in this scripture that is important to give “off the top” of our income (that is what the expression first-fruits means). Not after we have paid everything else, including taxes to the government, but “up front”. Don’t pay everything else and then give God “whatever is left.”
NOW CONSIDER AN IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE THAT JESUS TALKED ABOUT.
In Matthew 23:23-24, Jesus pointed out the error of the Pharisees in their keeping of the tithe. “Who to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices, mint, dill, and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, WITHOUT NEGLECTING THE FORMER. “You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”
Where else do we see anything in the New Testament that helps us understand the tithe?
In Hebrews 6:20 (in the Amplified Version”… Jesus has entered in for us (in advance) a forerunner having become a High Priest forever after the order ( with the rank) of Melchizedek.”
Jesus’ present-day ministry is as our high priest. He is our mediator, our advocate, and our intercessor before God the Father. This passage says that Jesus is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek, not after the order of the priesthood of Aaron, which was under the Mosaic Law.
To better understand Jesus’ high priestly ministry, we need to know more about Melchizedek. The first mention of Melchizedek is in Genesis 14:18-20. “Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.’ “
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Abram (his name hadn’t yet been changed to Abraham), had just been victorious in battle and was returning with the spoils when he met Melchizedek. Upon meeting Melchizedek, Abraham acknowledged him as a priest of the Most High God, and as such, he paid Melchizedek tithes of the spoil of battle. Abraham tithed before God gave Moses the law! In his meeting with Abraham, Melchizedek did two things. He received Abraham’s tithes and then conferred a blessing upon him. Like Melchizedek, Jesus also receives tithes. Look at Hebrews 7:5-8. Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people, that is, their brothers, even though their brothers are descended from Abraham. This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. And without doubt, the lesser person is blessed by the greater. Verse 8, shows: “in one case, the tenth is collected by men who die; but in the other case by him who is declared to be living” (who is none other than Jesus Christ Himself, of course)
Like Abraham, who acknowledged Melchizedek by paying him the tithe, we too, acknowledge Jesus as our high priest by paying him the tithe. And like Melchizedek blessed Abraham in return, Jesus too confers His blessing on our lives.
How inconsistent is it then, to expect His blessing in the financial arena when we have not acknowledged Him as our high priest with our tithes?
In Hebrews 4:14 we read, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.”
It is our responsibility to hold fast to our confession of faith. And it is Jesus’ responsibility to respond to our confession of faith. He can’t respond to your confession of faith if you don’t have one.—-So this of course, is the place to start. When we consider our giving and establishing Financial Excellence in our Christian life, we must, of necessity, first place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. In considering what the tithe is, we also need to consider:
THE PURPOSE OF THE TITHE.
Tithing is spiritual. It is an issue of trusting God and proving that you trust Him to “make up the difference” in your life. As I have said before, I don’t understand God’s economics. I don’t understand how 90% can go further than 100% of our income, but time after time, this is what He does.
We need to understand that even though we are no longer under the Law of the Old Testament, but; Under Grace, the TITHE for us today is just the minimum. We do not do away with the Ten Commandments and say they are not for us today. In fact, we see that Jesus says that a true understanding of the law goes much deeper for His followers. When Jesus talked about Adultery, he said that even to look at a woman with lust is the same as if we have committed adultery, and it is the same as Murder, when we hate our brother.
If this is true, it certainly is true that if the giving of 10% of our income was commanded and obligatory in the Old Testament, for us today, that has to be just the starting point, and a minimum for our giving today.
But you say, “What about what Paul says”—He doesn’t mention the tithe at all.” This is true, but if you don’t look for an excuse to give less than 10% of your income, you might understand what Paul says in I Cor 16:2 in a different way. We read, “…each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income.—As he has prospered—in proportion to what he is given.”
People sometimes presume that this passage proves that we can give “whatever we want to give”—that there is no amount suggested here at all. If we make a lot of money, we decide how much we might give of it to the Lord, or if we don’t have very much, somehow we are ‘excused from giving’—or at least from giving very much.
Let’s look closely at what Paul says. If we understand the phrase, “in keeping with his income” or “as God has prospered him” to mean, “everyone’s income is different, so 10% applied to different levels of income would certainly be “in keeping with his income or as he has prospered, or in proportion to what God has given him.
For sure, it isn’t a command to give 10% like the Old Testament Law required, but there is no thought of giving less than 10% either. Paul takes it for granted that the church will tithe. This principle was never rescinded. Everything that Paul talks about is giving beyond the tithe. Missions offerings to send him on his way in his missionary work, or Benevolent offerings for the poor in Jerusalem.
When we stop looking for Biblical support to give less than 10% of our income, and start looking for ways to give more, I believe God will open the windows of heaven and PROSPER us, and BLESS us.
This is what the prophet Malachi is talking about in 3:5-8 (our main text)

Will a man rob (or cheat) God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, How do we rob you? In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse, the whole nation of you, because you are robbing me. Verse 10 says to bring the whole tithe into the “storehouse.” This, of course, has to do with a primary meaning; feeding the Priests and others from the Levitical tribe, but the storehouse is what at one time was the “tent of meeting” and then the temple, or the synagogue (meeting place). This means that the meeting place of God’s people today is the church. When we do that, God says he will throw open the floodgates ( windows) of heaven and pour out so much blessing (so overflowing with abundance), that you will not have room enough for it. “
I know a man named Walt Meloon. I went to school at Taylor University with his daughter Eta. He and his grandson came to the Congo and stayed with us at our Guest House. He was the owner of the boat company Correct Craft in Orlando. He is now retired and his sons run the business. They produced the great water ski boat called “Ski-Nautique.” It became the standard of all Ski boats. They used to use them at Cyprus Gardens, before Legoland bought the lake and grounds. You can read about his story in a book entitled: “Parting the Waters” by James Vincent. The Meloon family have parted the waters of both adversity and prosperity. In this story we see:

• The “miracle production” of 400 assault boats in 15 days to help the U.S. Army cross the Rhine River in World War II. Then how after the government wanted these, said they didn’t need all those boats, and it caused the boat company to go bankrupt.
• The turnaround of the bankrupt company that chose to repay all of its debts.
• The principles of running a company based on Christian values. It started with the financial principle of tithing.
  GOD PROSPERS US BY SOWING AND REAPING
  By working hard, we get seeds to sow. Paul says in II Thess. 3:6, 13 that “if you don’t work, you don’t eat.” In I Timothy 5:8 he tells young Timothy, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
  We are told in Proverbs 6:6-11 that we should learn a lesson from the ant;—“it has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.” Proverbs 12:11 says He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment. 14:23 says, “hard work brings a profit.”
  This principle of seed is put in action when we are GIVERS.
  But we can’t really be givers until we learn to tithe. When we give the minimum of 10% of our income to the Lord we are just giving back to God what is owed to Him. What is already His. After that we can GIVE. We can give an OFFERING. This is what is discretionary on our part. An amount we give over and above our tithe (our 10%) to God, in order to establish a rate of return from Him. Either financial or spiritual, but most likely both.
  WHEN WE BECOME GIVERS OUT OF OUR ABUNDANCE, WE CAN EXPECT EVEN MORE OF A HARVEST
  II Cor. 9:6-11 has to do with money. More particularly, it has to do with giving to Missions. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work, As it is written (Psalm 112:9); “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.” You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through your generosity, thanksgiving to God.
  We must sow (by giving money) (cheerfully) with expectation of a harvest, and the amount of harvest will depend on how much we sow, (just as when one sows seed into the ground).
  This is the pathway to increase and a blessing. The tithe is a principle we see throughout the Bible, and if you want to win in the financial arena, you must properly align your life with it. Even if you are faithful to give your tithe, this involves going beyond just habitually giving your tithes to the Lord. It means doing it with the right heart attitude and applying your confession of faith as you do.
  Instead of looking for reasons to avoid it as some do, begin viewing the tithe as a supernatural opportunity to recognize and respond to Jesus as your high priest. Allow it to keep your priorities focused and orient your heart toward your calling to be a faithful steward. Look at it as an opportunity for God to prosper and bless you.
  When you pay your tithe with a proper perspective, pure motive, and positive confession, you will be on the pathway of experiencing increase and blessing at the hand of God, so that you can even give more into the Kingdom.
  In Mal. 3:10, the Lord Almighty is telling us to “test Him- and see if He won’t throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there won’t be any room to store it.”
  This involves a deeper relationship with God. The gift of salvation is given freely, but it then takes a constant daily walk to keep your relationship with God growing. REMEMBERING who Jesus is and what He has done for us should make us want to submit every part of our lives to Him, including our finances.